All Along the Watchtower

Chapter Three: They're Picking Out Our Eyes By Coal and Candlelight

The situation was actually better than expected. The first three people she had met were low on the food chain. The ones in charge of Moiety used to be part of Gehn's security force if she was understanding her young translator correctly. The older men and woman who headed the rebels were shrewd people who had kept their organization from being discovered for about thirty years. They knew how to keep things secret and locked up tight.

What they didn't know was how to attack.

Their almost purely defensive stance had served them well in their survival with only short raids to Riven proper for supplies every now and again. They had mastered the art of striking fear in the villagers to prevent them from interfering. The problem was that it worked too well. Some villagers were so frightened of Moiety that they would just give them what they wanted in hopes of getting them leave quickly. They were well stocked, but their recruitment was low. The Rivenaese hung paralyzed between Gehn, the Wahrk, and the Moiety.

It was much too late to go on the propaganda campaign they should have gone on years ago, so all Six could do was try to convince them that the time to come out of hiding was now.

As far as Six could tell, most of the rebels she observed on the practice grounds were good with their melee weapons, but that wasn't where her own strength lay. Getting raised in a Vault on pre-war tech had given her a certain fondness for energy weapons that she had never been able to shake. The only thing that came close was a small fascination with explosives that had worried her dad when she was younger. He had spent a lot of time trying to curb that one.

The man she had spoken to had hair that had gone white some time ago, and his skin looked remarkably like leather. He squinted at her through his one good eye. He surprised her by knowing a few English phrases, but not enough for a full conversation. The elder man—who's name she was sure she was mispronouncing as 'Evar'-had explained to her that an attack on the Book Assembly Island and Survey Island would be impossible. They didn't have the numbers, and the ones they did have weren't brave enough to shake their superstitions enough to have any success on that front.

That Wahrk had to go. The Moiety wouldn't go anywhere that wasn't Village Island or Temple Island with it still swimming around.

The rebels had the code to the Fire Marble Domes, which would theoretically take her to Gehn's new Age. But if his holiness had trapped the Linking sight into Riven than it stood to reason that he would have a similar rig set up there. She couldn't risk it. No, she had to get Gehn to come to her.

A promising plan began to take shape in her mind as she mixed together a number of ingredients that she recognized under different names than the ones the Rivenese used. Sunny fidgeted across the table from her, watching as she made several new bombs.

"Does the Wahrk use sonar?" Six asked the teenager without looking up. The artful depictions she saw on Riven made it look like an overgrown, dull colored angelfish, but the thing sounded like a whale to her. Though, she only knew slightly more about whales than she did about Wahrks.

"So-nar? I do not know this word," Sunny told her. He had managed to relax around her after spending nearly two hours in her company. She heard him take a sip of water.

"Sound waves? Does it make a lot of noises?" Six twisted the cap on the container as tight as she could.

"Yes," He said.

"Interesting." How would something like that react to Gabriel's Bark? "Does the Wahrk scare you?"

"It scares everyone," He answered softly.

"Why?" She had enough explosives. She had a few more than she could carry, but those weren't for her. Evar could consider them a donation to the cause. "It's not like it can grow feet and walk on land, or anything like that. I would say you're quite safe here in another age, living in a tree."

"You sound like Katran when you speak like that."

Six finally gave Sunny her attention. He was staring at the tubes of explosives, but he had enough sense in his head not to touch them. He was playing with his cup of water instead, twisting it around on the table.

"She sounds like a smart lady, so I'm choosing to take that as compliment," Six said with a wry smile.

Sunny straightened up, "It was!"

Six laughed and shook her head in response. He relaxed again, but fixed his eyes on his remaining water. She took the time to look around the practice yard where she had set up shop after showing a few of the Moiety the Ranger Takedown she had learned from Ranger Andy and the Scribe Counter Veronica had taught her. The group she had taught them to were demonstrating the moves to a new party with more efficiency then she had shown them. They were good.

Still watching the practice session she said, "The Wahrk and the superstition surrounding the number five is all being used against your people. The faster you listen to Katran, the faster you'll be free."

"I know. Few do, but I listen to what Katran says. She defeated Gehn, she left. She must know more than everyone else does. I believe her when she tells me that I should not fear what I was taught to fear. It is hard sometimes, but I try. It is why she taught me how to speak your language."

She looked back over at Sunny to find him staring at her like she held the answer to the universe. "I would usually preach that you shouldn't believe everything you hear, but in this case, Katran is right. It's just a number, it's just a fish. A big carnivorous fish, but a fish nonetheless."

"Yes," He paused and looked around before leaning forward to close some of the distance between them. "And you are going to kill it?" He whispered.

"If luck be a lady."

Sunny frowned at her. "I do not understand you," He said.

"Don't worry about it." She waved him off. "You want to go ask around for volunteers?"

"No one is going to help you," There was absolutely no doubt in his tone or bearing, and he made no move to get up from the bench.

"You won't know until you ask."

Meanwhile

Roxie sniffed the air. Under the smell of ocean, people, and fish was the smell of death. It was faint, but laced in every wind that blew. In the Wasteland that she rarely visited, the scent was obvious. Here it was like a ghost haunting your every move. Not usually seen, but the chill down your spine was no less obvious.

She sniffed the air again, but focused on the unique smell of tobacco in the room she had managed to get into after what felt like hours of exploration and trial and error with the human constructs. It was a good thing she was no average canine, partly computerized brains came in handy. The tobacco was one of kind according to her database, and worth cataloging in her memory.

Roxie wagged her tail. She loved it when she could use her police dog training, Six always gave her the best treats when she found something useful.

The strange furnace had a burned book inside. That was no good. Six wouldn't like that. She whined in disappointment. Roxie tried the desk next. She hopped up to place her front paws on it and looked at the items on display. There was a book in good condition, she nosed it open but it wasn't one of those special books that brought them to Riven. It looked like a journal. She picked it up between her teeth anyway. Six loved books so much that she had added an algorithm to her programming for her to try and pick up every intact book she might find.

There was nothing else that Roxie could see that was interesting to her, so she moved to leave.

As she was heading towards the door to go find Six, her radar alerted her to to someone making their way down the path towards the door.

Roxie looked around and darted under a table for lack of anywhere else to hide. The door opened, and Roxie perked up. It was that woman again! She was sure of it. The same scent and everything. The woman strode over to the desk with a single mindedness that Roxie usually attributed to robots.

"It's gone? She beat me here? Where is she? What is she doing?" The human ranted. She put her head in her hands and shook her head. "What am I to do? I have to do something." She heaved a breath before exiting the room deep in thought.

Had the human not been so stuck inside her own head she would have surely seen Roxie. What a stroke of luck. She wagged her tail as she waited for a bit to make sure the human wouldn't see her when she left the room. Shame she couldn't tell Six about this development.

The Courier ought to be pleased with the book though.

2

The Courier that Roxie was so eager to return to was currently having an argument with Evar, Nelah, Eti, Erlar, and a man she hadn't been introduced to but was calling him Fisher in her head because Sunny had told her he was the best fishermen in Tay.

"Sunny, tell Evar I think he's a bastard son of whore who wouldn't know a good plan if it came up and bit him in the ass."

"I-I do not understand some of those words," Sunny said, his eyes widening.

"That's funny, the first words I usually learn in any language are the swears. Katran dropped the ball. All right, tell him I think his mother is a woman of loose morals, and that the circumstances of his birth is highly suspect."

Sunny's jaw dropped, "No!" He shouted. "How could you say such a thing?"

"Easily. If he doesn't like it, than he should get the hell out of my way." To illustrate her point, she advanced on the group blocking her way to the Linking Book back to Riven. They back stepped, and held up their hands.

Fisher started talking and Sunny was quick to translate, "You cannot go. You must not attack the sacred Wahrk. You are needed to save Katran."

Six stopped short of them, "I am saving Katran. It's not as simple as just walking into Gehn's Age, and expecting results. I need to get his attention in a big way. By all accounts, the best way to do that is to kill the damn fish."

"If you do that, there will be a panic in the village. Among the Moiety too." Sunny pleaded for Eti.

"And? You guys have never been shy about your scare tactics before," She folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow at them.

"This is different. This is not just a scare. The Wahrk has been both feared and respected for generations. Killing the last of its kind will-"

"Prevent Gehn from feeding your people to it," Six interrupted. "I understand your respect for the creature, and normally I would leave anything with religious attachment alone as it's none of of my business, but I can't this time. The Wahrk has been one of the few things that has kept your rebellion from having any type of real success. You've all been too scared to do anything truly worthwhile in your fight all because of it. I'm sorry, that's just the way this has to be if your people really want to be free."

Almost Five Months Prior

The cave was glowing with torchlight when Six walked in with Rex and the litter behind her. Journeying all the way to Zion with a litter of eight rambunctious cyber pups and their dad had been an interesting experience. She'd rank it somewhere between fighting off Deathclaws in Quarry Junction and being abducted by aliens.

Rex let loose a happy bark, and rushed passed her right up the steps to Joshua Graham's worktable. The pups were so quick to imitate their father that they nearly knocked her down in their excitement.

"Rex, it's so good to see you again...ah, and your children." Joshua pushed a weapon he was repairing away from the table's edge so it wouldn't fall if the dogs bumped it. Butch jumped onto his lap as he was leaning back in his chair. "Yes, hello!"

Six was treated to the rare sound of Joshua's laugh. It was not unlike sandpaper sliding across leaves. She smiled at the sight of the man being accosted by his (and Edward's) old dog.

"What? No love for me, old man?" Six asked as she walked up the table at a much more sedate pace.

"I'm pleased you found your way back to us, Ruth," He said, using the name the New Canaanites had given her. She had thought about using it on a more permanent basis, but everyone already knew her as Courier Six. There was no need to get people confused. She was used to 'Six' anyway.

"See if you feel that way after I leave you alone with those little monsters," Six said. She picked up a set of leather armor with the stitching torn along one arm and reached for the heavy duty sewing kit.

"Ominous." He reached up and tugged the armor from her grasp before gesturing for her to put the kit down.

Six put up her hands and sat down on the stool across from him. She opened her bag and threw some doggy treats down in the corner by Joshua's bed area. The pups yipped and forgot Joshua immediately. Rex just silently went under the table to lay down between Six and Joshua.

There was a soft fondness in his bright blue eyes as he watched his new guests. Few were willing to get close to him, he had once confessed to her that part of the reason he enjoyed corresponding with her was because she didn't fear him. Rex and she were one of the few who didn't in any way.

"How you doing?" Six asked. She had looked him over when she had walked in, but it was difficult to gauge his health under all of the bandages.

"As well as usual," He answered. Joshua picked up one of the broken .45s at the table and began to work on fixing it.

"That bad?" Six frowned at him and gave him another once over, but received the same result.

He glanced up at her briefly before returning to the gun, "You know none of it truly bothers me." He set the weapon aside and pulled the armor she had picked up earlier closer to him. The .45 was dinged up, but Six had no doubt that it would work like brand new.

"Not being bothered by it is different from being well," Six sighed and pulled off the striped bandanna wrapped around her head. "Listen, Joshua, your burns really shouldn't be hurting you still. It makes no sense unless something else is going on." Her two best guesses were psychosomatic, or Edward put something in the pitch before setting Joshua alight. She couldn't say what it might have been unless Joshua let himself be examined by a real physician, someone with more knowledge than her above average skill in medicine. You know, an actual doctor. Preferably one that specialized in burn victims. The Followers had a couple that she knew of, a few she even trusted to keep their mouths shut. With right amount of caps donated to their cause, Six was certain she could convince them to take a 'vacation' in Utah.

"I believe we've had this discussion before," Joshua said tiredly.

"Since we're both too stubborn to be swayed I fear we'll be having this conversation often," Six replied as she retied her bandanna.

"I don't doubt that," He fumbled the stitching on the armor and was treated to Six yanking it from him to do it herself. Joshua gave up on it in favor of going back to repairing the guns scattered across his table. "I am trying not to be so stubborn. I'm afraid it's a subject I need a lot of work in."

"Hey, at least you're honestly trying. That's more than some people ever do," Six consoled. She picked out Joshua's stitching and began again.

"Hm," Joshua considered both the .45 in his hand and her statement. He turned over each carefully before answering, "A decade ago I wouldn't have thought I needed to change anything at all. It all seems very much like a dream now. One long terror in an endless night. It took the light of flames before I was able to wake up again and behold what I had done. What I had so easily become."

"Being set on fire would wake anyone up."

Joshua pretended not to hear her, "The old me, the one that first set out from New Canaan on missionary work, the one I had lost somewhere along the way, opening his eyes at that moment and facing the monster that had taken his place..." He shook his head. "I needed the fire as I need the pain of it to remind me now. So I can never forget."

Six was silent for a time, just carefully fixing the stitches on the armor. What could she say that she hadn't before? It was an old sermon of his. Despite the fact he said he wanted to be less stubborn, he wouldn't hear any different when it came to his being 'forged anew in the flames'. But like he said, they'd just have to work on it.

"Shame you couldn't have found a different alarm clock," Six finally said. She folded the armor back up and placed it neatly on the edge of the table before putting the sewing stuff away.

"Nothing else worked in the past," Joshua said. Reilly ran up to him and jumped up to place her front paws on his leg. She yipped at him, and wagged her tail. He put the gun down so he could pet her properly.

"Do you suppose there couldn't have been another way to show you your wrongs?" Six asked as she watched him play with the youngest pup. The smallest, but the bravest of the group. The little thing was positively fearless.

He looked up at her just long enough to say, "If there is one thing I have learned from you, Ruth, it's that anything is possible. But, as time travel is an impossibility, we will never truly know. I see no reason to dwell on such topics."

"I guess you're right," Six said, dropping the subject for now. "Let's dwell on something else."

"Very well," Joshua agreed. "How about you tell me when you are finally going to return that set of clothes Daniel and I let you borrow."

"I'll have to get back to you on that one."

Chapter Three End

Author's Note:

So, the Wahrk doesn't actually look much like an angelfish, but remember that Six has never actually seen one. She only has a vague idea what they look like. You're going to have to forgive her ignorance in marine biology.

Anyway, you and I know that just walking into Age 233 worked out for the Stranger, but the Courier doesn't know that. She believes she is taking the safest route when in reality she is doing the opposite. While the end result is going to be much the same, the way to get and even the aftermath is going to be quite different. On that note, in the sequels I will be showing what happens to the Rivenese and the consequences of all of this. If you're interested, you'll just have to keep reading on. I am going to be doing the five numbered games and several new stories with plots all their own. Stick around.

About the title of this story. To my best understanding of the song All Along the Watchtower, it's about two people, the Joker and the Thief, who sit outside the walls of a civilization run by greedy princes. The Joker is frustrated by their mishandling and complete disregard of the land, and 'can't get no relief'. The Thief advises him to think rationally, and perhaps do something about it. The second part of the song has them riding towards the castle walls where they are spotted by those on the watchtower.

At the time, I felt the themes almost fit Riven if you take the them less literally. Gehn is a tyrant who strips Riven of her resources being viewed by the Courier, the outsider. The Joker and the Thief could be Atrus and the Courier, but I like to think that Six plays both roles. It's just two sides of her personality in conversation. But I'll leave it up to you.

Thanks for reading,

Home On the Wastes